Tag Archives: Diana Furchtgott-Roth

The Fed and the Consequences of Bad Predictions

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South Africa's government in recent years voted to jail people who make unauthorized and inaccurate forecasts. Good thing for the Federal Reserve that their bad predictions don't carry consequences. [Credit: University of MN]

South Africa’s gov­ern­ment in recent years vot­ed to jail peo­ple for mak­ing unau­tho­rized and inac­cu­rate weath­er fore­casts. Good thing for the Fed­er­al Reserve that their bad pre­dic­tions don’t car­ry con­se­quences. [Cred­it: Uni­ver­si­ty of MN]

The South African gov­ern­ment in recent years con­sid­ered a bill to jail peo­ple who pub­lished inac­cu­rate and unau­tho­rized fore­casts of severe weather.

Hold­ing peo­ple account­able for their pre­dic­tions seems a bit harsh in this sea­son of pre­dic­tions. But the South Africans do have a point: pre­dic­tions have con­se­quences. That’s as true of pre­dic­tions about the econ­o­my as about the weath­er, some­thing that the Fed­er­al Reserve might do well to pon­der. Con­tin­ue read­ing →

Immigration Reform: Will It Boost The Economy Or Hurt It?

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Supporters of immigration reform say it will spur growth and raise living standards. Opponents disagree. Who's right? [Credit: ABCNews.go.com]

Sup­port­ers of immi­gra­tion reform say it will spur growth and raise liv­ing stan­dards. Oppo­nents dis­agree. Who’s right? [Cred­it: ABCNews.go.com]

“Immi­gra­tion Reform Would Boost Econ­o­my, CBO Report Finds,” ABC News report­ed last week.

Not exact­ly.

Con­tin­ue read­ing →